title: Evaluation of GAL4/TATA in vivo. Induction of transgene expression by adenovirally mediated gene codelivery.
abstract: A synthetic GAL4-responsive promoter consisting of five GAL4-binding sites and a TATA box (GAL4/TATA) was evaluated for its transcriptional activity in an adenoviral backbone using luciferase as the reporter. Basal luciferase activities in vitro were the same for cells infected with either adenovirus-containing luciferase cDNA driven by GAL4/TATA (Ad/GT-Luc) or adenovirus-containing luciferase cDNA not driven by a promoter (Ad/PO-Luc). In vitro induction of GAL4/TATA by coinfection of cells with adenovirus expressing the GAL4/VP16 fusion protein (Ad/3-phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK)-GV16) was dose-dependent and reached as high as 4 x 10(4)- to 9 x 10(4)-fold above basal levels when GAL4/TATA and GAL4/VP16 were delivered at a ratio of 10:1. In vivo studies in Balb/c mice showed no detectable luciferase activities in liver or other tissues examined in mice infused with either Ad/GT-Luc or Ad/PO-Luc. High levels of luciferase activity were, however, elicited when animals were infused with Ad/GT-Luc and Ad/PGK-GV16. Together, these results suggest that combination of the GAL4 gene regulatory system with adenovirally mediated in vivo gene delivery may be applicable to the in vivo evaluation of promoter activities and in vivo targeting of gene expression.
authors.affiliation: Section of Thoracic Molecular Oncology, Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bouvet
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Roth
mesh_terms: D000256:Adenoviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D018390:Gene Targeting / Q000379:methods*; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D016385:TATA Box; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D019076:Transgenes
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C052130:GAL4 protein, S cerevisiae; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors